ANTHONY Gerrard remains the only slight injury concern for Richie Wellens ahead of tomorrow’s League One clash with woefully out-of-form Portsmouth at Boundary Park (3pm).

A tight calf muscle forced the skipper to make way for Brian Wilson in the first half of last week’s 2-2 draw at Bury but the manager is hopeful he’ll be OK after returning to training on Thursday.

And although Eoin Doyle and Patrick McEleney are pushing for starting spots, Wellens feels that would be a risk with both lacking game-time having only recently recovered from illness and injury.

He said: “By his own admission, McEleney is not ready to start, his last full game was in November.

“It’s a similar situation with Doyle – if someone’s only got half-an-hour or 45 minutes in them, I don’t want them starting the game.

“I’ve come back from injury as a player and when you start the game, you spend the first 25 minutes finding your feet and thinking ‘don’t make a mistake’. That’s 25 minutes wasted.

“But when you come on as a sub and the game is stretched, you can influence the match, especially forward players.

“In the last half-an-hour, defenders are tired, so you need to turn it to your advantage.

“A prime example was at Scunthorpe when Doyle came on as a substitute, collected the ball on the half-turn and ran at someone who has been defending for 75 minutes. He scored – that’s what can happen.”

Ryan McLaughlin, Aaron Amadi-Holloway and Rob Hunt also look likely to settle for a place on what will be another strong bench tomorrow as Athletic look to extend their unbeaten run to six matches and continue to claw away from danger at the foot of League One.

“To be honest, they are all champing at the bit and I know in the long run they will be massive for us,” added Wellens.

Athletic’s 2-1 victory at Fratton Park – courtesy of a Doyle double strike in Wellens’ first away game as manager – fills the Latics boss with plenty of belief as the battle against relegation reaches its business-end with 11 games remaining.

He said: “Portsmouth are a big club – our 2-1 win down there was a fantastic performance, one of the best of the season.

“They are on a bad run but will still feel if they can win two or three on the bounce they will have an outside chance of the play-offs so I’m expecting a tough game.”

A run of four defeats in their last five with only eight points bagged in 2018 so far, has seen midtable Pompey’s play-off hopes taper-off – not aided by crippling injuries to pivotal players.

When midfield star Danny Rose suffered a broken leg at the end of December, Kenny Jackett’s side had won nine out of 11 matches.

The manager does hope to have 14-goal top scorer Brett Pitman available again tomorrow after the striker missed the last three games with a hamstring strain.

The club captain would add much-needed experience to a Portsmouth side whose average age was just 22 in their 3-1 home defeat to Gillingham last week.

Jackett switched to a 3-5-2 system against The Gills, in a match played out in front of more than 18,000 spectators – but may now revert to four at the back.

Meanwhile, next week's home clash with Walsall, scheduled for Saturday, March 24, has been postponed at the Saddlers' request due to international call-ups.